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About
In prose that is darkly humorous and alive with detail, Valiant Gentlemen reimagines the lives and intimate friendships of humanitarian and Irish patriot Roger Casement; his closest friend, Herbert Ward; and Ward's extraordinary wife, the Argentinian-American heiress Sarita Sanford.
Valiant Gentlemen takes the reader on an intimate journey, from Ward and Casement's misadventurous youth in the Congo - where, among other things, they bore witness to an Irish whiskey heir's taste for cannibalism - to Ward's marriage to Sarita and their flourishing family life in France, to Casement's covert homosexuality and enduring nomadic lifestyle floating between his work across the African continent and involvement in Irish politics.
When World War I breaks out, Casement and Ward's longstanding political differences finally come to a head and when Ward and his teenage sons leave to fight on the frontlines for England, Casement begins to work alongside the Germans to help free Ireland from British rule. What results is tragic and riveting, as both men are forced to confront notions of love and betrayal in the face of the vastly different tracks their lives have taken.
Valiant Gentlemen takes the reader on an intimate journey, from Ward and Casement's misadventurous youth in the Congo - where, among other things, they bore witness to an Irish whiskey heir's taste for cannibalism - to Ward's marriage to Sarita and their flourishing family life in France, to Casement's covert homosexuality and enduring nomadic lifestyle floating between his work across the African continent and involvement in Irish politics.
When World War I breaks out, Casement and Ward's longstanding political differences finally come to a head and when Ward and his teenage sons leave to fight on the frontlines for England, Casement begins to work alongside the Germans to help free Ireland from British rule. What results is tragic and riveting, as both men are forced to confront notions of love and betrayal in the face of the vastly different tracks their lives have taken.
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Reviews
"Murray's writing is super, full of humour and wisdom. In her hands, Ward, Casement and Sarita are vital, rounded characters. This fictionalised account of their intertwined lives is impressive."
The Times
"[Murray's] entertaining and historically persuasive novels blends the personal with the political... [the] novel transports us back to the multiple milieus in which Casement and his friends operated.... [she] displays a deft touch in managing harmoniously these abrupt shifts in locale and time. We are never confused as to where we are and with whom."
Sunday Times
"The best thing Valiant Gentlemen does - so subtly that you aren't always aware of it - is trace the erosive process by which its characters transform from young, seemingly immortal crusaders to battered, doubt-plagued figures, compromised in both health and spirit... [a] wise, illuminating novel."
Washington Post